In Blood, We Paint Ourselves
by Without Fear
Summary: Discontinued. : Read chapter 4!
1. Around the Fire

**In Blood, We Paint Ourselves**

**Without Fear **

**Uchiha Madara couldn't live the way the Shodaime dreamed Konoha to be. Their rift starts a reaction that engulfs the shinobi world in their turmoil. The future Konoha will find out how deliberate some of the great "accidents" and "coincidences" were, are, and will be.**

**Disclaimer: Oh, I wouldn't be writing this fanfic if I owned Naruto, would I? No, I'd be in my luxurious spa while my little assistants write down the story I dictate and my team of artists slave away to make the next date for Weekly Jump. Oh, and my accountant would be telling me the amounts rolling in from America and how the damn Japanese government is taxing me waaaay too much. But I'm not, so, that speaks for itself.**

I thought I'd try this. If you do not know Uchiha Madara or his connection to the Akatsuki or you aren't up to date with the MANGA, and you hate being fed spoilers, I advise you to not read. If you don't give a damn, then go ahead. :3 Spoilers ahead.

Anyways, I'm experimenting a little bit. As you will notice when you read, the chapter is split into two narrations in completely different time line. This is will also happen in future chapters, and sometimes the two will intersect, but the two stories will eventually merge later in the story. Please be patient!

This isn't supposed to any character centric really, but more of plot predictions/musing-centric which may or may not put more focus on one character (besides Naruto). This is just my attempt to try to play around with the godly Uchiha, Madara, the Shodaime, the beginning of Konoha, and the conspiracy thingy hinted by Jiraiya about the summoning of Kyuubi. And, yes, this does have OCs, which are kind of inevitable since the only canon characters in the time I'm writing are the Shodaime, Nidaime, and the Uchiha Madara.

I'd appreciate a review and the lengthier the review the better, right :D I love you because you read the author's note (or you just skipped to this sentence)! Lotsa kisses.

Question: Is it Shodai or Shodaime? Still confuses me.

* * *

**Chapter 1**: Around the Fire

* * *

The moon was large and perfectly round. The night sky was absent of stars and the moon, with its brilliant paleness, was majestic in its isolation. Down below the forest was thick and dark, the air was cool with a hint of soil after rain, and a small fire flitted in the depth of the darkness. 

This fire was a manmade phenomenon, not a natural occurrence, and it burned tamely encased by large rocks. Around it, four figures slouched towards its warmth. The orange light revealed their faces to be quite young; three of them were in their early twenties and one of them was still a teenager. Despite their apparent youth, their grave eyes and worn faces told of experiences and hardship beyond their years, an expected byproduct of a chaotic and belligerent time. One of them was a young woman, her smooth and passive face staring blankly into the crackling fire.

"Madara-kun," started one of the young men, attempting to start a conversation, "How's your clan's recovery coming along?" This young man, by most standards, was not a chatterer, but he had his disdain for overly awkward silent moments, especially in a group of friends this close. Out of all of them, he had the calmest and wisest visage with little trace of aggression or malice. His noble, youthful face was framed by flowing black hair, adding to the majesty and power of his presence. His companions felt his strength and dignity, for, even though they were on the same level as friends, they looked upon him with awe and respect reserved for leaders.

The addressed, Madara, looked up at his companion and gave him a good natured smile.

"Strongly, Kouhei," Madara replied, "However, I am wondering what to do about the training."

The young woman looked at Madara, perhaps with a glint of disdain in her brilliant green eyes, before she turned her attention back onto the fire, remaining silent. The last of the young men, the teenager, sporting short striking silvery white hair, smiled a little. His face was marked with single red spikes on the chin and both cheeks and bore resemblance to long haired Kouhei despite the obvious difference in hair color.

"Well, Kouhei," started the young woman, "His clan doesn't need that much training with those eyes they've got. You don't even need to worry."

Madara smirked at her and Kouhei smiled patiently. "Midori-chan," he said calmly, "It's not that I worry, its better just to know this stuff. Madara-kun's clan, the Uchihas, has provided to be a great asset in these wars and having them in our effort to organ—"

"That's not what I meant," Midori cut in bluntly, face as passive as ever, "But, whatever."

"Ne, Midori-sempai," the silver haired boy said, "You shouldn't be so rude to Kouhei."

"Ah, Ginjiro-kun," Kouhei chuckled, "I'm used to her."

"Midori is right," Madara agreed, nodding, "We needn't talk about my clan. What's more important is this coming treaty and plan for an organized community."

"It's a long way," said Kouhei gravely, "It's hard to get many people to agree, hard to get the clans to stop becoming hostile and work for unity."

"It's almost against the shinobi code of isolation and self-dependence," Madara mused, "Isn't it?"

"Shinobi codes aren't set in stone, Madara," Kouhei answered, "At least, it shouldn't be. In the end, a working community is stronger than any one powerful individual. It is what the working community can foster and breed that has true strength. Unnecessary deaths and pain will end. In this case, some aspects of the shinobi code must be changed if needed."

"Perhaps," Madara said quietly, "However, its best to be careful when working with communities…it can be detrimental to advancement."

Kouhei frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we going to try to bring the masses up sacrificing one incredible person, who, if allowed to live, would and could effect great change and advancement?"

"Sacrifice?" Ginjiro piped in, frowning in the same way as his brother, "What are you talking about Madara-sempai?"

"I'm only pointing out a danger of a generic, untalented mass for the sake of numbers and community, while excellent individuals would be forced to live conforming to laws made for and set by, perhaps, the generic mass. It'd be detrimental to the individuals' growth and advancement."

"That's ridiculous," Midori cut in sharply, glaring at the Uchiha, "If that individual was excellent or useful, he or she would know the value of community, trust, and relationship. Of teamwork."

"Good point, Midori-chan," Madara said, "However, we are blessed, you and I, and Kouhei and Ginjiro, with each other. Therefore, we have utter trust in each other's ability because we are all strong. We do not know what it is to have an incompetent person to work with, especially in life or death situations. You cannot say everyone will be blessed as we are."

"I know what you are getting at, Madara," interjected Kouhei gruffly, seeming annoyed by the subject at hand, "No life is worth sacrifice without the consent of the sacrificed. And, if that person agrees to, he is worth so much more than his live comrades; no matter how stronger they are than him. And—" He turned smiled sadly at his friends, "Ninjas are _not_ the only people who are useful in this world."

Madara remained silent, gazing at his companions coolly with dark and calculating eyes. He looked at Midori, the brooding dark haired Kunoichi who disliked him strongly, then at Ginjiro, a talented, earnest but naïve young ninja who was tougher than he seem, and then to his closest friend, eternal rival, his match, Kouhei. Ah yes, Kouhei. In a way he was the leader of the outfit as he was the one that commanded the most respect from the other three. He and Madara were perhaps around the same levels in skill, but it was Kouhei who had the charm and charisma to be leader, while Madara's aggressive and severe personality tended not to work well with large groups [or any groups. That, and Midori didn't get along with Madara. It didn't bother him of course—getting along with people wasn't the most important thing on a battlefield, it was having powerful people on the same side as you all striving for the common goal.

Certainly, in this group of shinobi, no one was slightly in the ordinary: there was him, the Uchiha's best, Kouhei, the great leader with the ability to create life, Ginjiro, the young water element ninja whose talent was beyond his years, and Midori, one of the most feared kunoichi on the battlefield. Madara prided himself on keeping such a distinctive and powerful circle of friends. In shinobi clans, the Uchihas were the elite, in his clan, he was the best, among shinobi; he was of the best, keeping companionship with those who were in the same league as him.

Madara smiled. He could feel Midori's suspicious eyes on him, and when he turned to meet them, he was greeted with intense green eyes that stared hard back at him.

"Midori," he said with a teasing chuckle, "Those eyes could bore a hole through me."

She rolled her eyes as Kouhei's and Genjiro's laughter joined Madara's.

"I wouldn't mind being able to do that," Midori growled, unaffected by her companions' mirth. She paused and looked at Madara, who returned her gaze.

"Pretty green eyes," Madara said, grinning, "It'd be terrible for them to be able to perform such a task, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, they'd have to turn red first."

"Let's not get into that," Genjiro interjected warningly, "Try to keep this night Sharingan-debate free."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Gin-kun," Midori said blankly, her eye flickering onto the teenager, then away into the fire. It looked like she was about the say more, but thought better of it and returned to her usual brooding activity.

"Nii-san," Ginjiro said, addressing Kouhei in an attempt to allay any incoming awkward silence, "Tell me more about the Daimyo's request."

Kouhei appreciated his younger brother change of subject and beamed at him, making the younger boy blush a little.

"The Daimyo is sick of unstable times and lack of organization, as we all are, I'm sure," Kouhei began casually, "However, there is a multitude of problems, both political and code-wise. Therefore, the Daimyo, Naganishi-dono, have called for the many, well, leaders of shinobi from different areas, and the leaders of many clans, preferably the larger ones. It's a major conference to figure things out. Many other Daimyos from other regions will be coming too."

"What about to draw the borders for the countries?" asked Ginjiro, staring at the fire, "How will that come to be?"

"Well, that depends on how many clans and Daimyos agree to be part of the country, and how powerful the shinobi village set up there is," Kouhei answered, tiredly, "Hopefully this time the countries will stick to their borders."

"That's all good," Madara joined in with a small smile, "That kind of stuff should be left for the council. What I'm interested in is what we are going to do about the bijuus."

Midori cast a weary glance at Madara, and Kouhei looked at his friend, grimly. Ginjiro seemed to wince and look away, as if he wanted to avoid the subject at hand.

"What do you want to do about the bijuus, Madara?" asked Midori with apparent dislike. It was one of those questions that really wasn't a question, when the questioner expected a certain answer and the answerer knew a certain response was expected of him. It was one of those questions that implied implication without directing accusing the responder, and puts him into a spot in which he is forced to implicate himself. Midori, Kouhei and Ginjiro knew very well of Madara's stance on the bijuus. It was also a known fact that certain aspects of Madara's stance disagreed with both Midori and Kouhei. Ginjiro liked to keep out of it.

Madara gazed at Midori in grim thought, musing over how irritating she could be. Kouhei was now eying him with interest, awaiting his response to Midori's accusation.

"Midori," Madara began darkly, "Kouhei, we disagree. But these bijuus would be very useful."

Kouhei closed his eyes and let out a grave sigh. "Madara-kun, these are demons. They should not be taken so lightly."

Madara did not reply. He turned his gaze from Midori and Kouhei to the fire before him, conscience of the warmth on his face. They were_ only_ demons.

* * *

* * *

It was just wasn't fair to Uzumaki Kushina. Why did the Whirlpool have to fall? Why did it _have_ to fall? Why? Why haven't the other countries fallen yet? And just who in the world decided that the Whirlpool country was defeated without consulting _her_?!

"Hey, idiot," her brother growled at her, "You're 10 and barely a genin, why'd they consult you?!"

"Because I'm an UZUMAKI, that's why!" she exclaimed hotly, "We're one of its most influential, well known clan! I mean, we have a say in it, don't we?!"

"Rain ninjas aren't gonna knock on our doors asking for their permission to take over Whirlpool," he said grimly, "No one decided, Kushina. It just happened. Sometimes, things just happened, things you don't want. Our clan fought hard."

Kushina scowled at her brother and quickened her pace, pushing through the crowd of silent, weary Whirlpool citizens trudging through the forest trail. The line of war beaten citizen and ninjas were flanked by official, grim looking Konoha ninjas and several ANBU members. Talking was carry out in rushed whispers, and from time to time, a conversation would rise in volume which would be immediately silenced by the Konoha ninjas. These were the Whirlpool refugees taken in by the kindly, rich Konoha that offered them food, protection and residence if they would live as Konoha citizens and ninjas. Strangely, it seems that the elders of Konoha had a soft spot for the small village that they barely had any contact with, and the desperate Whirlpool took up Konoha's offer with great enthusiasm and gratitude. Kindness and sympathy were rare in cruel shinobi wars, and it was even rarer around Whirlpool under the threat of the great Rain village.

"Hey, Kushina," her brother shouted at her, "Where are you going?! We can't get separated!" She ignored him and made her way to the closest Konoha ninja and looked up at him with fiery green eyes.

"Hey, mister, tell me," she demanded, without a hint of fear in her voice, "Who decided that Whirlpool was lost and we all became refugees?!"

She felt a hand pull her from the back, no doubt her brother, but she relented and waited for her answer. The Konoha nin, caught off guard, stared incredulously at the red headed girl before being able to articulate.

"Hey," Kushina's brother growled, pulling her back, "What's wrong with you?!" He addressed the Konoha ninja, "Sorry, all of this is traumatic for her. She's not well."

"I'm very well, Keisuke!" she snapped, "I just wanna know who—"

"Look, kid," the ninja cut in impatiently, "You're blocking the traffic. When you get to Konoha you can ask people there, alright?"

"That's great," Keisuke exclaimed, pulling his sister back, "We'll wait till then." He proceeded to push his sister into the traffic, gripping her shoulder hard so she wouldn't get away again.

"What's wrong with you Kushina!" he exclaimed furiously, shaking her a bit, "Are you crazy, running off like that and talking to those Konoha ninjas!?"

"Because it isn't fair," she moaned, tears forming in her eyes. "Why'd we give up like that?!"

"Because it's foolish to go on," Keisuke answered, "We would have been killed, and we'd be useless dead. I thought we were done with this!"

"Mom and Dad would have been ashamed!" she shouted indignantly, clenching her hands and trying to get rid of her brother's iron grip on her shoulder, "Our clan would have been ashamed of us!"

"They would have wanted us to leave!"

"Hey, you two— " a pebble hit Keisuke's arm, stinging the wounds he had wounded up with dirty, gray bandages. Keisuke and Kushina looked up to see a cat-mask ANBU member pointing at them. Keisuke tensed and Kushina frowned at this new challenge. The ANBU put up an index finger to its mask's painted mouth, signifying them to be quiet.

Keisuke looked down at his sister and whispered, "You see that Kushina? Let's just try to get to Konoha without losing each other, okay?" Kushina would have continued being difficult but she noticed the sadness and defeat that laced his tone, and thought better of it. She looked up at her brother, and two pairs of forlorn green eyes met. She had never seen her brother look so beaten before, and the very sight of his conquered eyes sent anger through her body and tears to her eyes. Her brother, once so strong and confident, now answered to Konoha ninjas in shameful silence and walked head down and shoulders drooping. His spirit had been broken.

* * *

"Name, please?" a bored Konoha chuunin demanded of Kushina when it was her turn. They had just arrived at the enterance of Konoha, and the refugees were herded towards immigration building near the great gates of village. 

"Uzumaki Kushina," she answered, wondering if Konoha knew of her clan. By the way the chuunin merely wrote the name down looking as bored as ever, she guessed not.

"Age?"

"10."

"Ninja?"

"Yes."

"Rank?"

"Genin."

"I see. As our Genin specifications differ slightly from yours, you would have to take a short test to keep your Genin title later this week. Here is your receipt for the test." The chuunin handed Kushina thin, yellow piece of paper with her name scribbled upon it and a request for the Genin test. A date was also stamped below it and the address of what was probably the testing center.

"Please make it for that date."

"Hai."

"Do you have a team and a sensei, Uzumaki-san, who are here also?"

"No," Kushina answered, her eyes lowering, "They've died."

"I'm sorry; then we will have to regroup you into another team." He made a note of that on the paper he had in his hands.

"Family, relatives here?"

"Yes, my brother."

"Name?"

"Uzumaki Keisuke."

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. Would you kindly make your way to the refugee building over there, and perhaps wait for your brother? Tomorrow we will give you your accommodation in the village." The chuunin lazily motioned to large building up ahead that was surrounded by a growing crowd of Whirlpool refugees, eager to go in.

"My brother and me together, right?" Kushina asked a little worryingly.

"Of course, we tried to group as many people we can together, Uzumaki-san."

She felt a little bit of relief and smiled brightly at the chuunin. "Arigato, uh…" Kushina stared at him, expecting him to tell him her name, and the chuunin stared back, clueless as to why the genin was still standing there.

"Uzumaki-san, you may leave now."

"Hai, I know, I was waiting for you to tell me your name."

The chuunin quirked an eyebrow at her, before he answered, carefully, "Eda Shihi."

Kushina smiled, "Arigato, Eda-san."

* * *

Gaah, please leave a review, just so I can see if people want me to continue this story. I've been writing a bit, but I wasn't sure how this'll turn out. 

I hope it was clear who Kouhei and Ginjiro was. It sucks we don't know their real names. :[

I always wanted to write a Minato/Kushina, but didn't want it to be an aimless romance that would eventually end up with them dying, blah blah. I decided to put in an actual plot and construct a story that pertains not only to them, but my take on the Konoha/shinobi history as well, because I'm really into the relationship between Shodaime and Madara. I'm rather rusty on my Naruto facts too, but I'm trying as hard as I can to get everything right. If you spot a mistake, don't hesitate to correct me please!

Also, don't hesitate to tell me if there is any concern about the writing, plot, etc. I welcome all form of criticism, except useless flames. Those are just stupid. Really, don't do it. To anyone.

Thank you for reading! Mwah! Love you all!


	2. The Amazing

**In Blood, We Paint Ourselves**

**Without Fear**

**Pre-Chapter Author's Notes:**

1. Thank you all for the reviews, thoughts, and concerns. It's nice to know people are actually processing my story.  
2. I've edited the first chapter to take out all the mistakes spotted for me or I spotted afterwards, revamped some of the writing, but there is no substantial change.3. One important change is when Kouhei/Shodaime is talking, I forgot to put _not_ in ""Ninjas are the only _not_ people who are useful in this world." Kouhei is a nice guy…  
4. To **Demonkid**: Yes I know, she's definitely not. : ) I did my research too, and funny you should mention it because it's coming up soon. Thank you for your concern.  
5. Thank you for continuing to read my story.

* * *

**Chapter 2**: The Amazing

* * *

The sun was just peeking over the horizon and a renewed fire cackled healthily in the dim morning light, throwing soft shadows on the trees surrounding the small, occupied clearing. The air was cool, but calm and the chirpings of early birds and crickets filled the forest. 

Madara was fastening his kunai pouch and shuriken holsters to both legs, already dressed in his samurai-esque outfit, complete with black shoulder guards and breastplate over the usual black shinobi setup. Kouhei was in the process of fitting his forearm guards and looked bothered by a hairline crack on his red breastplate, unable to remember what had caused it. Like Madara, Kouhei's outfit was a much modified version of the samurai armor, using the segmented shoulder guards and breastplate, but shedding the heavier layers underneath the outer armor and getting rid of the _kabuto_, the traditional samurai mask and helmet which Kouhei as a young child thought frightening, cool, but useless in battle. But then again, he was not a samurai, for the age of the armored warriors was long gone. Segmented shin guards protected the legs, which gave away to open toed boots or what will become the classic ninja sandals.

Ginjiro was still in his under layer of the black shinobi outfit, roasting pieces of meat for their morning breakfast. His blue armor, samurai inspired like both his brother's and Madara's, was in a neat pile by his side, ready to be worn. With alert but tired eyes, he put cooked pieces of food onto a clean piece of cloth to cool down before being eaten.

Midori's outfit was less bulky than her male counterparts. Her under layer consisted of the usual black outfit, although more fitting than usual. Her shoulder guards were shorter and more compact to fit her smaller, feminine shoulders, and the breastplate was segmented more than usual to accommodate the curves of her body and breasts. Her shin and arm guards were not segmented, but short, stiff and left inner parts of her arms and legs unprotected. Thick black cloth wounded her legs and her boots were closed toe and stiff, unlike the open toed boots that were becoming increasingly popular. She was still in the painful process of furnishing herself with weapons.

All four of them gave a vague vibe of the Samurai past, a fading art that was now close to extinction since the advent of the shinobi, advanced chakra manipulation and ninjutsus more than about two hundred years ago. They represented the bridge between the old art of Bushido and the new shinobi ways, which was reflected in their modified samurai armor to fit the more flexible and subtle art of the shinobi, their mastery of ninjutsus, taijustsus and genjutsus, and their continued use of the swords or what was known as _kenjutsus_ (sword techniques). Kenjutsu was becoming rarer and rarer as ninjas became more dependent on chakra based ninjutsus; even old kenjutsus moves were modified with chakra and absorbed into the ninjutsu category.

Both Madara and Kouhei still wielded the iconic katana, but also were also equipped with a small tanto (short double edged daggers), the kunais, shurikens, and the scrolls. Ginjiro wielded the kodachi, a shorter blade than of the katana, and as a younger generation, was more focused on the ninja weaponry and ninjutsus. Midori, on the other hand, was more equipped with bladed weapons than her companions although she did not use the katana. A kodachi was fastened on her left hip, the ninjato (a short straight blade) on her right, and twin wazikashi, swords even shorter than the kodachi, were worn crisscrossed on her back.

"We're late," Madara said, "At least, we're going to be late if we get anymore side tracked."

"I figured as much," Kouhei replied, finished with his armor, "At least our last stop gave us food."

"Yeah," Ginjiro agreed, nodding and attending the food, "But I doubt we'd be punished if we were late, since the meeting is something of a global affair. The key word is tolerance."

A silence fell upon them as preparation went on. Ginjiro was now done with his cooking and had started to put on his armor, in which Kouhei helped to quicken the rather annoying process.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by an uproar of screams and the four of them tensed, looked at each other, and then instinctively around. A large explosion followed, and white smoke billowed up into the sky. More screams were heard, followed by a deafening crunch and several little rumbles that shook the dying leaves off the trees.

"Midori," Kouhei started, his voice firm and commanding, "Have it checked out."

Midori returned one curt nod, her hands slipping down instinctively to fish out a kunai, but she had not the chance to put on her pouch. Madara, already picking up on this, pulled out his own kunai. He muttered "Midori", and flicked the weapon at her. She caught it with a deft hand, nodded at Madara, and made a small slit on her thumb. In one fluid motion, she pocketed the kunai, drew a bar with her blood on the palm of her other hand. Performing a few quick hand seals, she threw out her bloody palm in front of her, eyes focused and cried out: "**Kuchiyose no jutsu**!" (Summoning technique)

Black kanji spread up her arm, smoke erupted from her hands and with great gust, and a hawk materialized out of the smoke and swooped up into the sky. It circled a little above them and headed back towards Midori, descending head first. Midori held out a hand as a landing platform and winced as the bird's talon cut into her arms.

"Midori-san," the hawk greeted with a respectful nod of its head, "Kouhei-san, Madara-san, Ginjiro-san."

"Hello, Miu-chan," Midori returned with a rare smile, "Did you see the smoke?"

The bird gave a quick nod.

"Good, you know what to do," she commanded curtly, and the bird, with a quick "yes", flew off.

"Ginjiro," Madara voice came in sharply as Miu disappeared from sight, "Finish gearing up. Midori, put on your holsters."

If it were any other time, Midori wouldn't have let the command go without a returning an irritated remark. However, when it was time to be serious, there was no room for petty battle of wits. Everything was serious business, and Midori followed orders quickly and efficiently. Ginjiro, with the help of his brother, was ready in minutes.

Miu, the hawk, was back shortly and soared above them, circling as she descended towards her summoner. The latter held out her arm again and the bird took it promptly.

"Midori-san. Ninjas have attacked civilian traveling troupes and kept them hostage," the bird reported quickly, wasting no time.

"What are the numbers," Kouhei inquired, his face set as he walked towards Miu and Midori.

"Yes, Kouhei-san," the bird nodded, "The attacking ninjas may well number over 70 or 80. There are a total of five civilian wagons, pulled by oxen; the number of the civilians is unknown... It is about half a mile away from, and the attack happened in a small valley besides a small river. There are many cliffs overlooking the valley."

"What could you tell about the attackers?" asked Midori.

"All newer age ninjas," the bird replied without delay, "Although I believe the leader has traces of the samurai art. None of them, from what I could see, carry any long blades. I cannot be sure, but their jutsus have made several cracks on the floor of the valley."

"Doton techniques, most likely," Madara mused, nodding his head in understanding, "Ninjas from the Earth Country. That was what the quakes were."

"The civilians?" prompted Midori.

"Merchants. The Hakusuke. Dancer troupe. The Hanasaki."

"They're probably heading to the summit as well," Madara said, grimly, "However, what the hell are the Earth nins thinking? They are attending as well, but attacking civilians is totally idiotic. Not going to get them any respect. Still, the civilians are equally idiotic for not traveling with protection, especially with this many ninja going the same way as them."

"Earth hasn't been quite happy about some arrangements, from the last I heard," Kouhei supplied, thoughtfully; "It looks like we have to free the civilians."

"We might as well since we are going to pass through the same valley," said Ginjiro, "It'll be quite the distraction for us."

"Just when we are running late…" Madara muttered irritably.

"Miu-chan," said Kouhei calmly, "Lead us there please, would you?" The bird nodded, took off from Midori's hand flew towards the direction of the smoke.

"Leave our things, we'll come back, and Ginjiro, put out the fire."

Ginjiro nodded, and formed two short seals. Water, pulled from the humidity in the air, formed around his hands and flew into the fire, which hissed angrily and died away.

* * *

Miu had taken them to the cliff that looked over the valley, and the bird's description came alive before them. There were five large wagons, and the oxens were on the ground, resting. There were no civilians out in the present, which meant that they were all inside the wagons. The ninjas numbered more than 70 or 80; it was probably close to 100 or more in number. A majority of them were crowded by the river bank, resting, and a smaller portion were standing guard around the wagons. The four of them were spying the Earth nins on the cliff, crouched behind a large boulder not too far away from the edge. Miu had gone back to its home by Midori's order. 

"Look, there are more guards around the end two wagons," Kouhei said, pointing at the two vehicles closest the river, "I'll hazard a guess that's where most of the civilians are."

"There are less ninjas around the wagons in all," Madara observed, "It makes things easier for us."

"We'll have separate them," Midori said, nodding her head at Madara's comment, "We'll have to make sure the civilians get to safety before a full on fight can ensue. One hundred men against four— going to be dangerous and intense."

"We would need a distraction then," said Ginjiro, "While someone go in and separate the wagons from the ninjas and keep them separated. And then the rest of us will have to fight the remaining ones." The other three nodded in agreement, and continued watching the ninjas making themselves comfortable by the water. Some of them were raiding the wagons, pulling out large tubs filled with goods, bulky paper wrapped packages, and other small items the four of them couldn't make out from above.

"I've got a plan," Kouhei murmured, motioning to his friends to come closer.

* * *

It didn't take long for Kouhei, Madara and Ginjiro to get onto the valley floor. Midori, standing on top of the cliff, could see her companions edging discreetly towards the Earth ninjas unbeknownst to them. She watched as Ginjiro slipped into the river and, with a series of hand movements, melted into the water. Kouhei and Madara were still a far distance from the ninjas but an alert guard would probably sense them soon enough. 

Then she saw it, a slight flash from the river—Ginjiro's semi-transparent hand holding a kunai materializing into metal from the water. He was rising out of the river near the wagons. It was her signal to begin.

She fished out a Kunai again, slit her thumb like before and drew a bar with the blood across her opposite palm. Midori went through the seals, vaguely wondering if she could get through the fight with just using summons. She didn't like summoning too much---chakra expense was not worth it in most fights. She forced out a sigh, closed her eyes, and banished all feelings of comfort and tension from her body. It was time to do battle.

Her hands locked itself into the last seal; she broke into a run towards the edge of the cliff and leapt off. The air rushed past her with a terrible force, tearing at her skin. She threw out her bloody palm towards the ground and shouted, "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**!" White smoke exploded from her hands and enveloped her as a great gust of wind pulsated through the air. A loud shriek cut through the peace of the forest a giant hawk materialized from the moving cloud of smoke, expelling it. It was a great tawny white breasted bird probably 20 feet in wingspan and about 10 feet in length. Its great talons could rip off a human head with ease. Midori landed softly on her summon and immediately gripped the hawk's giant feathers. She leaned towards the head of the hawk, snuggling her face into the brown plumage.

All heads on the valley turned to her now, taken by surprise by her sudden appearance. They could only stare at first, pointing and gaping at her falling figure. The summoning of the giant bird shook them out of their shock and they began to move, all eyes on the sky. They did not notice Ginjiro materializing out of the water and sneaking his way over to the five wagons.

"Chairoko-san," she whispered into the feathers, "Give them a little wind." The great hawk stopped in midair, pulled its great wings back—"**Fuuton: Tengu Kaze no Jutsu**!"(Wind Element: Sudden Gust Technique)— and pulled it towards the Earth ninja camp. A swirling wind raged through the camp, blowing out all fire, knocking down some bewildered ninjas and light materials several feet back.

The earth ninjas could hardly react as they recovered, gaping in blustering confusion at the sudden attack when the five oxen let out an angry cry and broke into a run, pulling the wagons with them. On top each of them, five identical figures of Ginjiro stood battle ready with a challenging smirk on his face as the guard ninjas clambered after them. One of the ninjas by the river—the leader— commanded some resting units to go after them. The nearest factions broke into a run after the wagons but stopped suddenly as the earth rumbled and cracked before them. Being Earth ninjas, they were used to such Doton techniques and knew how to dodge them. They shook off their initial surprise and leapt to cross the growing crack with confidence and focused on the runaway wagons. What they weren't expecting were the great thorny vines whipping out from the ground and sending them flying back. The vines grew rabidly and hardened into wood, intertwining and growing until it solidified into a massive wall of trees, throwing a great shadow across the valley.

The Earth ninjas stared at the tree-wall in awe and some with horror. The seeming leader, the only one armed with a katana on his left hip, raced towards the wall and stopped shortly before it, his eyes filled with the mingling of wonder and realization.

Some had never seen such a jutsu before--a jutsu that created actual life. Others who have heard of such jutsu looked upon the wall with wonder, and those who knew a bit more had apprehension in their eyes. There was only one person known to this generation to be able to use that technique. The leader looked up at the giant hawk and caught a sight of the person on top of it and was mildly surprised to find it to be a young woman.

Mokuton user, hawk-summoner—there were two others left. He was sure that it was one of them that went off with the wagons and that just left one more to show himself. He cursed inwardly; first he was given the rather risky and annoying mission of capturing the Hakusuke, and now he was going to face the damn fantastic four. It was just _not_ his year.

* * *

**//Forward//

* * *

**

"So you're really going to be a Konoha nin?" Kushina asked bitterly as she watched her brother tighten the Konoha headband. The only bedroom of the apartment was gray and cold, consisting only of two sheet-less futons and three large suitcases. Kushina was sitting on her futon and watched as her brother put on his chuunin gear across the room.

"Obviously," Keisuke muttered, eyeing his sister suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"Whirlpool might have been small," Kushina began hotly, "But we're proud ninjas who can govern ourselves so we did not even need a Hokage…"

"What are you getting all worked up about?" Keisuke asked with an exasperated sigh, "We didn't have a Hokage because we didn't exactly have an actual ninja village. We were mostly family based. Now, Kushina…shouldn't you be training for the Konoha Genin test?"

"Oh…that…" Kushina bit her lips and averted her eyes to the gray walls, "Today at noon."

"You don't want to be late for that," Keisuke muttered darkly, "Or fail it. What proud ninjas we are, huh? Can't even pass the genin test."

"Shut up, Keisuke!" she growled, "I'm gonna pass it with flying colors! Besides, what about you? Don't you need to retest for chuunin?"

"No," Keisuke replied curtly, "They need more ninjas and since I've fought in the war and survived, they figured I'm pretty reliable."

"I'm close to being a chuunin anyway," Kushina stated, frowning, "The damn war got in the way I couldn't go to the chuunin exams."

"No use whining about it," Keisuke sighed, "Now, I gotta C-rank mission, Kushina. I'll be gone for a day—"

"They're sending you out already?" she gasped, leaping off the futon towards her brother, "But we've barely been here a week! These Konoha people—they don't waste any time do they? Not tact either!"

"Tact?" Keisuke raised his eyebrows, "You might be mistaking Konoha for yourself. Besides, I volunteered."

"You—"

"Now Kushina!" Keisuke snapped, throwing an intense glare at his sister, "We need the money. Stop being such a pain in the ass and just past that genin test, would you?!"

Before Kushina could utter another word, Keisuke turned on his heels and exited the room. Kushina, not one to be cut off, rushed after him.

Keisuke was already at the door when he stopped and looked at his sister. "Kushina, be good, alright?" he said, his voice soft and pleading, "Take care. I'll be back soon." The girl stared at him, slightly taken aback at her brother's rather weak voice. She nodded.

Keisuke smiled, "Good girl." And he left, leaving Kushina alone in the apartment.

At noon, Kushina was in a large testing room with probably 40 other Whirlpool genins taking a genin test. To her surprise it was amazingly easy and ridiculous. She stole a furtive glance at the administering chuunin, gritting her teeth at the thought of Konoha lowering their standards for them to add more ninjas to the rosters. Kushina was taught and trained by her grandmother, a tough but retired ninja while the other able members of the Uzumaki clan fought in the war. Her training wasn't as extensive or intense was Keisuke probably was but she knew she was pretty much cream of the crop of her generation as she was a few lucky ones getting an actual ninja education. She couldn't gauge how she would match up to Konoha's real standards as it was a large and prosperous village with an actual, centralized ninja academy. Supposedly, Konoha produced a number of quality ninjas.

She was one of the first people to be done with the test and left the room feeling slightly angry at something she could not quite pinpoint. She made her way to front desk where a female chuunin was sitting, bent over paperwork.

"Excuse me miss," Kushina began, approaching the table, "When do we know our results for the genin test?" The chuunin looked up and smiled.

"I bet that test was super easy," the chuunin said, leaning forward. Kushina pursed her lips and nodded.

"Don't think we're flimsy though," the elder girl said, "Your jounin sensei would retest you."

"When will that be?" Kushina asked.

"Soon," the chuunin answered confidently, "You'll be applying to the chuunin test, right?"

"Of course!" Kushina exclaimed, "I was training for the chuunin test anyways before all the war crap happened! And now, things are just messed up!"

"That's unfortunate," the chuunin muttered sympathetically, "Hey, what about this. The last part of the chuunin exam is going on right now. You can probably catch the last bit of the fight! Usually those are the best. There's an amazing rookie this year everyone's been talking about. Why don't go check it out and see what the chuunin test is all about, huh?"

Kushina perked up at this suggestion and nodded enthusiastically, "That sounds interesting. An amazing rookie huh?"

"Yup," the chuunin replied, "You probably need to run over there to see last the fight."

"I'll do that," Kushina replied, biting her lips in excitement, "Thanks, uh…"

"Haruna. What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Kushina. Thanks, Haruna-san!" Kushina smiled at the chuunin, "I'll get going now then."

"Good, just follow the cheering. It's not too far from here!"

"Okay, thanks! Bye, Haruna-san."

"See you, Kushina-chan!"

Kushina rushed out of the Ninja Academy, and just as Haruna said, she could hear the distant roar of cheering. Wow, she thought, staring into the direction of the sound, that's loud.

She ran down the streets, weaving in and out between pedestrians, dodging children and street vendors. The sound became louder as she ran and the great battle stadium loomed ahead of her.

When she arrived, the sound of cheering was deafening. Wincing, she entered the stadium as the announcer described the end of the battle and proclaimed the winner. Kushina could barely hear the announcer over the cheers and she didn't catch the names of the next two ninjas for the last fight. The chuunin guards at the base of the stairs stopped her before she could enter the actual seatings.

"SOUTH ENTRANCE IS FREE!" the chuunin shouted over the noise, "GO TO THE SOUTH ENTRANCE! THERE ARE A FEW OPEN SEATS!"

"WHAT?!" Kushina shouted in response, "I CAN'T—" The chuunin leaned forward and screamed into her ears, "SOUTH ENTRANCE." He motioned to the stairs in the opposite directions and Kushina nodded. She went through the south entrance, which took her all the way to the farthest seats of the stadium. There were only one or two seats left and she took one immediately, slipping between two civilian adults. She turned her attention to two ninjas on the battle ground, who were barely bigger than her palms from her seats. She pursed her lips in disappointment and looked around. The cheer was subsiding and she looked up to see the Hokage standing and waving his hands to calm down the audience. When the cheers finally stopped, he sat back down and gave the signal to the testing ninjas to proceed. Kushina looked back down at the competitors below to search for the "amazing rookie" Haruna-san was so excited about.

The two fighters were both male and from Konoha. One of them was quite young, around her age while the other looked about fifteen or sixteen. She guessed the former was the "amazing ninja." She sat up and squinted her eyes more, trying to get a good look at the younger ninja. All she could make out was his obnoxiously blonde hair and the deep red shirt he wore. The older one was dark-haired was a head taller than his opponent and Kushina wondered for a brief moment about how he would feel if he lost to the short blonde kid. It would suck.

Kushina sat back down and turned to the person besides her—a blonde woman (there are a lot of blondes in this village! She thought)—and asked, "Hey, do you know their names? I came here late."

The woman smiled and nodded, "Yes. The dark haired one is Hachiro Katsu. The other is Namikaze Minato."

"Thanks, so that Namikaze is the famous rookie?" she asked.

"I suppose so," the woman replied, "He's quite impressive. An amazing genin." Kushina nodded. The examiners signaled the fight to begin.

* * *

**End of Chapter: Post-Chapter Chatter

* * *

**

1. All fighting and action next chapter. All out Kouhei + Madara vs. Earth ninjas and Minato vs. Katsu. The chapter feels a little cluttered and forced to me. I might be revising it when I think of something better.  
2. I ripped of the name Fantastic Four if anyone noticed. :3 Bad movie, okay comic.  
3. So, how'd you like my action sequences? Hm? Good, lame, needs more 'oomph'? More blood? Okay, so there isn't much action yet. Midori has only shown she knows Kuchiyose, Shodaime/Kouhei has performed his Mokuton, Madara haven't done anything and Ginjiro/Nidaime can use mizu bunshin and ride on top of moving wagons. I'm getting there.  
4. The Naruto timeline is killing me. Kishi didn't really solidify the time, so I'm frying my brain doing this. --; Don't yell at me if you don't agree with my time/age/events.  
5. You know the drill: review, comments, critique… I think I might need a beta.

* * *

**To my readers because I like to respond.

* * *

**

**KyuubiWindscar:** Thank you for being my first reviewer and your kind words! I glad I impressed you, but this is only the beginning, so I wouldn't praise me just yet. Thank you for clicking, too.

**Demonkid**: Answered the question for you? Yes?  So, Minato shows, too. And thank you for the Shodai/Shodaime thing. I don't get to use it since he's not one yet.

**Yumerin**: Thank you. Yes, the story goes back and forth, but it does merge, and eventually, the story will kind of blur together. At least that's what I'm hoping; I dunno if that'll work out when I'm actually writing the parts.

**xXxKIxXx**** / Mirarle / Tullus** : Thanks! And yes, Mina/Kush because it is inevitable; Naruto had to be born _somehow_! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

**Kitsune no Ra**i: Thank you for your catches! I reread it several time too, but I missed one so big. I think I've explained the Hyuuga to you. And yes, I tried hard to give each of them distinct characteristics and beliefs, but also made them similar and friendly enough to be great buddies. I'm not sure how effective it is though. And, for the Japanese thing…I was wondering myself about keeping everything strictly English (except for the names), but it was almost instinctive for me to put "Hai" and "Arigato". So, I think I will do everything in English, be easier for me. Thanks.

**HatakeRose**: I was first hesitant to put any OC in (especially a girl one), but the fact is, the time line I'm working with will force me to work with OC. I usually write original stories, so I have practice making characters up from scratch, but for fanfics OCs are very dangerous, I know. There is a danger of Mary-Sues, the danger of boring unneeded author-service characters, and forced characters. I know a lot of people would not read the story because they can't recognize any other name besides Madara and Kushina. Oh well.

**MasterMenthe**: Thank you! I'm happy that is even worthy of some praise. I get depressed every time I read other really awesome fics, cause I feel sucky compared to them.

**Those Who Read and Didn't Review**: Thanks. You have my appreciation.


	3. The Battle at the Valley

**In Blood, We Paint Ourselves**

**Without Fear**

**Pre-Chapter Author's Notes:**

Thank you all for the reviews, thoughts, and concerns. And the corrections.This is a long chapter, but it used to be much longer! I'm tired. Thank you for continuing read this. 3

_Reminder: Kouhei Shodai, Ginjiro Nidaime

* * *

_**Chapter 2**: The Battle at the Valley

* * *

Ginjiro was all on his own now with his clones, foot chakra-glued onto the roof of the five wagons. About two dozen of the Earth ninjas made it past Kouhei's growing wall and were pursuing him relentlessly. Luckily, the floor of the valley was quite smooth which meant he did not have to expend extra energy worried about flying off too much. He duck and twisted between the barrage of shurikens that followed him. The wagons shook violently as Ginjiro and his clones fell onto the room and several screams erupted from the two wagons closest to the river. Ginjiro smiled; true to Kouhei's guess, the two wagons closest to the river were the only two that held the civilians. This made things so much easier.

Ginjiro picked himself effortlessly as his clones copied him. Grinning to themselves, the five Ginjiro's faced the ninjas again. The three farthest from the river elegantly hopped backwards, flailing a little, and jumped onto the back of the oxen. They each took out a kunai and cut the reins connecting the animals to the wagons. The earth ninjas watched in alarm as the three wagons crashed to a stop, hurling loose parts towards them as they collided with the floor. The ninjas dispersed in all directions to avoid the crash, but some unlucky ones were knocked back violently by the flying pieces of debris.

Ginjiro grimaced a little at the collisions. It was always excruciating to watch such messes. He nodded at his clone on the remaining wagon, mentally ordering them to stop the wagons when they were at least 100 yards away. The clones nodded and he leapt from the wagon. He quickly went through a series of hand seal in mid air as a ninja from the left came swerving from his blind sight on his left. One of his clones on an ox threw several kunais at earth ninja and the attacker turned sharply to evade them.

Ginjiro's landed soundlessly and quickly sidestepped to the right as several kunais flew past him. He whirled around, facing the remaining ninjas who were coming towards him full speed. He quickly counted them—20 left. The one in the lead formed seals and muttered something. The ground cracked beneath his feet and Ginjiro scowled. Doton techniques were so troublesome…

He gathered his strength and leapt into the air. "**Suiton: Suigaden**! (Water Fang Projectile)" Small whirlpools appeared in the river and launched several bodies of spinning water straight towards the earth ninjas, drilling relentlessly into their body and sending them flying back. The ground beneath Ginjiro had parted considerably, creating a large crack in the earth. He put his hands together and called out, "**Mizu Bushin no jutsu**!" A water clone formed near him and kicked him away from the crack's path.

Ginjiro rolled on the ground and immediately jumped back into position as his enemies recovered from his attack. He pursed his mouth impatiently. If it weren't for the civilians, he would have just flooded the entire place and be done with it. Instead, he was left to use a series of lesser jutsus to eliminate his opponents a little by little.

The ninjas came upon him with renewed speed and vigor, and fortunately for him, all of them were directly in his path and in close proximity within each other. A stupid move, unless they were planning an unseen attack at the same time. A clone watched his back and told him there was nothing else suspicious.

Ginjiro put his hands together and went through a string of seals, took in a deep breath and expelled large quantity of viscous liquid from his mouth. "**Mizuame Nabara( Starch Syrup Capture Field)!" **The thick, sticky liquid spread itself incredibly fast for liquid of such high viscosity, and the ninjas in the front were instantly captured and glued to their place. About a third of the men found themselves unable to move their feet, and the rest of the enemy split in opposite direction to avoid the sticky substance.

Ginjiro jumped nearer towards the river to put some distance between the two groups of ninjas. He flashed through a second series of seals, "**Mizu no Tatsumaki** (Tornado of Water)!"

A tall, tornado of water formed quickly from water of the river and moved onto land, moving in a zigzag formation and knocking out incoming ninjas. The ones stuck to Ginjiro's field of sticky liquid were the first to be hit. They were thrown from their spots and knocked out completely, while the power of the tornado adopted the viscous substance into its body.

Next, the slower earth ninjas were easily knocked unconscious by the stinging force of the water tornado, and, by the time the jutsu ran its course, only nine ninjas remained.

Ginjiro started on another jutsu again, his hands working as fast as his mind to keep with his strategy of relentless attack. _Don't let the enemy recover, don't let them attack, keep all doors close, rip all of theirs open._

"**Mizu no Muchi**(Water Whip)!" A long whip of compressed water materialized in his hands and he whipped it about him as soon as he felt the handle in his hands. The blue whip cracked the wind, and encircled itself around one unsuspecting earth ninja, and swung him towards one of his own men. In an instant, the water whip broke and lengthened around the new captive and threw them both in the river. One of his clones leapt to his side and released a jutsu in the river "**Suiton:** **Daibakuryuu no Jutsu (**WaterElement: Great Exploding Current)!"A whirlpool formed in the river, becoming larger every second. The fallen ninjas were immediately caught in the whirlpool and pulled down into the water.

Meanwhile, the real Ginjiro was playing tag with the remaining ninjas, using his whip to capture one and throwing him into the river to be swallowed up by the whirlpool. He used unconscious men as shields from their jutsus and prevented any means of earth-breaking jutsus to be performed by his enemies. He captured each one and hurled them unceremoniously into mouth of whirlpool, where the water immediately ate the fallen bodies.

After the last of the men had been taken care of, he was dirty, wet and trying to catch his breath. He glanced at the wagons and saw some brave civilians had ventured out under the protection of his clones. They waved to him, clapped their hands at his victory and shouted some praises. Ginjiro returned a faint wave and turned to look to the sky beyond the vine wall and saw that the great bird had disappeared from the sky. Midori was probably back on the ground, which meant the battle was done. He sighed and smiled.

_Kouhei and Madara worked fast._ Ginjiro communicated to his clones that he was going to join the others, and reminded them to take care of the citizens.

* * *

_Earlier…_

Kouhei appeared to the men, walking slowly but confidently. Sauntering besides him, Madara's eyes sparkled with a condescending amusement at the numerous gaping faces. The earth leader was taken aback at the sight of them but regained his composure and stole quick looks around. He glanced up at the giant bird in the sky, then back at them, face distorted with anger and irritation.

He could recognize an Uchiha anywhere, having met several in battle before and being fortunate enough to live through them. Madara was probably the Uchiha with a highest profile, recognizable by look, demeanor and the unwavering confidence that bordered on arrogance. Most prominently, he had the eye…the frighteningly powerful eyes that glowed red like a demons, an eye the Uchihas proudly named the Sharingan, the bloodlimit that had been long overdue to their clan. Madara had the strength and power to back up any boast he made and was said to fight like a demon when he went all out. Fortunately, he rarely went all out. Then there was Sakata Kouhei, the heir of an old elite warrior family and this generation's leader and genius. He was said to fight like a god, and created life with the hands of the divine. It was only Sakata Kouhei whom Uchiha Madara had the greatest respect for.

Of course, he had to take these rumors and reputations with a grain of salt. In these dark days ignorance ran high and ninjas were exaggeratedly evil, good, or god-like. However, he was inclined to think these two merited some of these…_rumors_.

When the two men were in earshot of the earth leader, Madara spoke: "Well, isn't this an unfortunate meeting for you…"

The leader hmphed grumpily, "Quick to fight, aren't you guys?"

The corner of Madara's mouth slowly curved into a little smirk. Kouhei replied, curtly, "No."

"No…" echoed the leader blandly, looking between the two of them with slight confusion.

"No," Kouhei repeated confidently, "If we meant to fight, all of you would already be dead or dying."

The other man grunted, but his conscience nodded in agreement. "You certainly have the ego."

Kouhei smile pleasantly, although there was a hint of pride in his eyes, "I know myself very well, sir, and I know you and your men, quite well, for we have been observing and studying your camp for many hours. I may fight 100 battles with you, and I would not worry about a single one of them."

The leader breathed out forcefully, flaring his nostrils. "The ego is the downfall of men," he grumbled gravely, his face attempting the wise but condescending look which seemed to annoy Madara. The Uchiha scowled.

"No, you are quite wrong," Madara sneered, shaking his head; "Where in the world did you get that? Stupidity is the downfall of man. Conformity, idiocy, mindlessness—all downfall of men. Ego is not."

"I see," the man replied, beady eyes flickering back and forth between his two opponents, "Both of your legendary pride and power are apparent."

"There is nothing wrong either," Madara said smoothly, "But, let's get down to business…"

"You are from Earth Country, are you not?" Kouhei prompted. The man remained silent.

"It doesn't matter whatever country they're from," Madara said sharply, "The Hakusuke is an international merchant group, as made so in the Fifth International Shinobi Treaty. An attack on the Hakusuke is seen as an act of war, among other things."

"Not a good situation to be in, especially when the summit is only two days away," Kouhei added, nodding, "I'm sure you know that."

"I do what I am told," the man replied lamely, frowning, "This is our business. This is what the great leaders of the Earth Country have commanded of me." Kouhei winced mentally; it was the perfect bait for the individual-obsessed Uchiha he called a friend. If Madara wasn't Madara, Kouhei would have hated the man.

"You do what you are told," Madara echoed bitterly, his eyes focusing dangerously on the man, "_Well_, I did not expect anything more from the likes of—"

"But that's not why we're here," Kouhei interrupted quickly, "We are here to negotiate."

"Negotiate?!" the man spat, incredulously, "Coming into my camp and attacking us is negotiating?"

"Attacking and capturing the Hakusuke is an act of war," Kouhei said, his voice becoming firmer and angrier, "We had _every _right to kill you all." He frowned and dropped his voice slightly, "But we didn't."

Before the leader could reply, there was a slight change of wind and agonized screams erupted from within the opposite camp. Three Earth ninjas closest to the river bank were clutching their throat, unsuccessfully suppressing the fountains of blood pouring from between their fingers. Their companions rushed to help them but succeeded in only getting drenched in crimson as they extracted brown, hardened and sharp-edged feathers lodged into the men's throat. In less than a minute, the three ninjas lay limp in a pool of blood.

Madara quirked an eyebrow. Kouhei glanced up at the bird and Midori looked down at them perfectly composed.

"What was that?" the earth leader demanded angrily, "You come here wanting to 'negotiate', why'd you do that for?!"

"Unfortunately, it seemed like your ninjas were planning a secret attack on us," Kouhei answered calmly, though he looked concerned, "I'm sure you knew nothing about it." The earth leader grimaced guiltily.

"You don't think she was up there just to look cool, did you?" Madara asked dryly, jerking his head towards the sky, "Now, we can end this quickly, with you surrendering. Or we can end this quickly but a bit messier, with your men dead and you captured."

"What's your choice?" Kouhei asked, facing the earth leader, "_He who is wise knows when to fight and when not to figh_t."

"Don't be so arrogant," the man growled, "the ninjas you see here aren't your regular earth ninjas. They are of the best—don't think you're going to win so easily, especially now we're on our guards."

"Very well," Kouhei mumbled, and sighed, exasperated, "Looks like we have to get our hands dirty a little." The next few seconds was all a blur as the air thickened with murderous intent. The earth ninjas moved to surround Kouhei and Madara, but the two of them already had the upper hand as Kouhei's plants sprung from the ground. Madara disappeared in the chaotic growth of the vines, leaving a focused Kouhei surrounded by his plants like some sort of earthly god. The ground cracked as the plants grew larger, pushing the earth ninjas backwards.

Madara reappeared, standing majestically on a thick branch that was lazily waving around. He ran down the branch as it fell forward towards the ground, setting his sights on a couple of earth ninjas in his path.

His hands blurred in a series of hand seals, ending in the distinctive tiger form: "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu** (Fire Element:)!" He spit out individual balls of fire as he flipped over them and landed on another one of Kouhei's vines which whipped suddenly into the air. The fires were easily blocked by the men as one conjured a wall of mud. The flames hit the mud shield and died out, leaving behind unusually small kunais with a single note attached to them.

"Kai," Madara whispered. The tags exploded, and their defense crumbled. He called out "Kai" again and smoke bombs exploded, enveloping the men in thick black clouds. He leapt onto to a thick immobile tree branch and watched as thorn-adorned vines pull out several men from his smoke bomb trap and wrap cocoons over them. Five cocoons in all—five down. He frowned. Too little, he needed to up the game a bit.

He glanced around and saw more vine cocoons flailing around. Kouhei was having fun. Madara saw his friend leaping so effortlessly from vine to vine as if he were playing hopscotch. The giant hawk swept into his view as blunt but strong winds immobilized the ninjas trying to get past the vine wall.

This was Kouhei's "operation: confuse and capture". It was good against a mass of the average ninja who couldn't even block Midori's steel feathers which were noisier than shurikens. Frankly, Madara couldn't see why they couldn't just get rid of them all; kill or capture.

The battle was going by quickly. Kouhei had an amazing range and he was definitely in his element. It was too bad since Madara had been aching to get some exercise but he recognized efficiency was best at this point. At his level, however, not many people can give him a good exercise. Perhaps he would ask the three of them to spar when this whole nuisance was over.

Madara jumped out towards the battlefield, leaping on the hanging vines just as Kouhei did. He lunged at four ninjas who were crawling up the base of Kouhei's vine forest. They threw a rain of senbons and kunais towards him, which he easily dodged with a kawarimi. He drew his katana and plunged it deep into the chest of first man. Madara then pivoted himself around the hilt of his sword and threw a kick at the next upcoming ninja. The man fell onto the ninja below him, knocking out the line of climbing men who were also braving giant vicious thorns that suddenly sprouted from the trees. He drew his katana out of the dead man and let the corpse fall with his companions. They were caught by live branches and vines and were immediately wrapped them, and, upon detecting the dead man, the plants promptly released him.

Soon, there were more cocoons than men left and the opposing ninjas finally felt the fear rushing into their veins. Their attacks became wilder, more unfocused and sloppy. Their defenses faltered and their jutsus were bested by trees that broke, crumbled and even consumed the earth. Their kunais, shurikens and any throwing weapons were easily dodged and usually neutralized by powerful blasts of blunt winds.

Only a few earth shattering jutsus seemed to have some affect, but even the forest of moving plants were near formidable for the earth leader, who searched to take down Kouhei. The man found the mokuton-user directing his plants as if he were commanding a symphony, waving his hands with complete resolute and confidence. Kouhei's movements were fluid and in perfect harmony with his trees. He jumped from one branch to another, never coming into close proximity to the ground and never wasting a movement.

The leader drew his sword and launched into the base of one of the trees. He leapt on to the hand and quickly threw a long handled kunai into the branch above him and jumped onto the handle of that. He continued this process with the expected speed and nimbleness of a ninja his level, regularly evading any hostile plants until he was close to the mokuton user.

Kouhei noticed him immediately and jumped onto a swinging vine that took him farther away from the leader, who followed him by jumping onto the nearest moving branch which sought to shake him off. He activated chakra on his soles and glued himself to the plants.

Kouhei threw a warning batch of shurikens at the leader, who leapt out of the way and lunged towards him with a kunai in hand. Kouhei swung a stiff kick at him, blocking the mans advance, jumped backwards onto a different branch and drew out his katana. He swung widely in the direction of his opponent, briefly securing the area before him. The leader jumped higher up and slid between the branches with a kick aimed at Kouhei from the side. Kouhei ducked as the legs swished above him and he swung his blade upward, shaving the fabric of the leader's thigh. The man twisted away at the touch of the steel and landed on a lower tree branch. He launched a barrage of shurikens at Kouhei, and leapt after while making fervent signs with his hands. He muttered something Kouhei could not hear, opened his mouth and vomited thick, brown mud. At his command, the mud moved as if had gained life and charged a Kouhei with such a surprising speed Kouhei lost his balance evading the first charge. Kouhei leapt away as plants moved to detain the live earth but it merely slipped through and burst forth from thinner branches and came upon Kouhei like a tidal wave of sand and mud. A gigantic branch broke through the wave, weaving intricate vines in the entire area to separate the earth into the tiny pieces and prevent it from reforming. Kouhei turned his attention on his opponent who was still struggling to push through the new branch. Kouhei brought his hands together and focused on the man, and one thick branch came whipping out from the depth of the forest and hurled the leader out of the jungle and back into the clearing. The buzzing earth and mud fell limp, dead as their master disappeared from range.

By this time, only a handful of ninjas were left, fighting their hardest to not become trapped in the vine cocoons like their teammates. Kouhei scanned the scene and decided promptly that the enemy had already been beat. He jumped down from his mass of trees and landed on the ground for the first time since the fight began. Midori, seeing Kouhei, directed her summon towards the tree where it disappeared with a near-silent poof, leaving her on a tree branch.

The remaining four ninjas collected around their leader immediately, who were dirty, beat up and running low on chakra. The earth leader halted and his surviving, ninjas stopped behind him, their eyes wide in wonder and amazement. It was indeed a startling sight. Nearly sixty man-sized vine cocoons moved this way and that, lazily and deliberately as if to make their victims dizzy. Kouhei gestured at his trees and thirteen wriggling cocoon came forward and rested close to the ground. Kouhei motioned to Midori with a soft movement of his head. Midori bounced down from the branch and took her place besides the furthermost prisoner and drew a kodachi from her side.

Madara jumped down from his branch and took a place by Kouhei, and Ginjiro had arrived and came in close proximity.

Kouhei addressed the leader, "We will ask you for your surrender with the condition that you will willingly reveal what the Earth Country's plans. The consequences of not surrendering are…_dire_."

"Bullshit!" the leader swore angrily "What do you take me for?"

Madara could have rolled his eyes if he were not too dignified for such childish acts. Instead, he slightly arched his eyebrows. Kouhei frowned at the opposing leader, "Is that a no?"

"That's a no," the leader confirmed. Kouhei sighed and nodded at Midori. The vines opened to reveal the upper body of the prisoner, who gasped for air and struggled at the vines holding him captive. At the sight of Midori and her weapon, a realization seems to dawn upon of his fate and he cried in a voice so full of fear it didn't befit a ninja. Ginjiro winced. Midori twirled the kodachi to the backhand position and plunged the blade into the man's gut. He literally shrieked in pain as the blood splurged from the wound. Midori twisted the blade and pulled it out. A painful gurgling sound was the last of the unfortunate man as he vomited blood and intestines hung out from the wound. The vines released the man and he fell with an ominous thud.

Ginjiro seemed disgusted at the sight and his eyebrows knitted together, glancing at his older brother with slight doubt. He took a quick look at Midori, who didn't seem affected at all by the crumpled bloody mess of a man that lay at her feet.

The earth leader looked momentarily shocked but quickly regained composure. He began to move forward, as did his men, but Kouhei's trees shot of out the ground and took a hold of their legs and arms. The leader glared at Kouhei.

"What about now?" Kouhei asked quietly.

The other man swallowed and shook his head, "We're ninjas…we die for this sort of thing…these men are willing to die for this. I know, they're noble."

"No?" asked Kouhei carefully. The man shook his head. Kouhei nodded at Midori.

The vines revealed the next men and Midori stabbed him, twisting the blade and pulling it out. More screams filled the valley before the body was dropped.

"We're going to kill the rest of your men one by one," Kouhei said impatiently, "You're as much as captured as they are, and you have already lost. Even if you refuse to the last of your men, we're still going to get the information from you. How we get is up to you. The lives are of your men are at stake."

"No," the leader whispered, shaking his head, "I'll die before I betray my duties."

"Such…courage," Madara mused, "And loyalty. If we can call it that. I see it more of stupidity and…blind fate."

The man turned his frustrated eyes on Madara and almost hissed at him. He was convulsing with so much anger that his men seemed concerned and the trees around him tightened their hold. Kouhei gave Midori her order.

Midori stabbed a third man, and blood sprayed onto her. Annoyed, she immediately pulled out her sword and wiped some blood away from her face. The man was still alive, his screams muffled as blood poured profusely from his mouth. She stabbed him again and he fell limp.

"Midori, why not add a little variety?" Madara asked with perfect seriousness and concern. Midori glanced at Madara and her mouth quivered and pursed in irritation. She looked away quickly and wiped the blood off her kodachi on the sleeve of the dead third man.

Despite the leader's defiance, there was a great amount of anxiety in his eyes. He knew he was defeated but a stubborn part of him prevented him from surrendering to the four people who defeated his 100-strong army. Of course, this was the Madara he was up against, not to mention to Sakata brothers and one of the best kunoichis, surrendering to them, in reality, would not damage his reputation too much. But…pride, ego…they were really the downfall of men. At least _his_ downfall.

The fourth cocoon opened up to reveal the next unfortunate victim.

"I'll ask you again—"

"No," the leader blurted out, but looked more fearful than ever. Midori slashed at the throat of the fourth man without Kouhei's order. Her blade cut the throat half way through, leaving the man's gaping mouth and blinking eyes hanging on the throat. She pulled the kodachi down further and decapitated him. Like the others, the plants immediately let go.

The next cocoon unraveled, revealing a gasping frightened young man. Midori moved closer and readied her kodachi for the next order.

The earth leader looked as though he had been suddenly punched in the stomach. He seemed to be reeling, sick to his stomach and his eyes was troubled with shock and indecision. His men started in surprise at the fifth prisoner and quickly looked at their leader. Madara noted this interesting behavior and watched the leader's expression carefully, and glanced at the doomed prisoner. The two were making intense eye contact and leader seemed more frustrated and agonized than ever before.

"Well?" Kouhei asked the man dutifully.

The earth leader was breathing heavily now, which Madara gleefully noted, and the man's shoulders slumped. _The sign of defeat._

"Stop," he gasped, "I'll surrender, just stop!" Kouhei at first seemed surprised and observed the tired man for several seconds before nodding. He took a suspicious glance at the prisoner but decided not to pursue the subject. Their surrender was all that was need, no matter the reason of their surrender.

"Good," he said quietly, bringing all the cocoons to ground level, "You have surrendered under the condition that you cooperate with us. If you betray this condition, we will begin executing more of your men." The leader nodded vigorously and shut his eyes tight, as if he couldn't even look into the eyes of the man that defeated him, nor the eyes of his troubled and disappointed ninjas.

Meanwhile, Madara didn't seem quite content. He approached the lucky fifth prisoner and observed him with a critical eye, making the poor man literally shake. He whipped around and asked viciously, "You—" He pointed at the leader, "What is this man to you?" He grabbed a fistful of the fifth prisoner's hair and jerked him forward.

"What do you mean?" the leader asked breathlessly.

"Quite simple," Madara said coolly, "What does this man, whom you saved by surrendering, mean to you?"

"Why does that matter?" Ginjiro asked, frowning, "They surrendered, Madara-sempai, we're done."

"Not quite, kid," Madara mused, "I want him to answer."

"What will you do if I don't?" the leader challenged, though his eyes betrayed the strength of his voice.

"I'll cut off his head," Madara stated plainly.

"He's my son," the man replied quickly, the firmness in his tone disappeared at once; "He's my son."

"Oh?" said Madara, nodding wisely and drawing a dagger from his inner layers, "I see." In the next second, Madara had plunged his dagger into the son's neck, slashed sideways and pulled the head off the neck with pure brute strength. The horrified father cried out, struggled against Kouhei's plants and managed to break away from the grips of the vines. The Uchiha flung the head at the leader who instinctively caught it, but quickly dropped it in shock at the sight of the frozen fear and pain of son's face.

"Madara-sempai!" Ginjiro cried out angrily, "You had no reason or right to do that!"

"I had reason," Madara replied lazily over the leader's angry yells, "And my right needs not to be judged nor approved by _you_, Ginjiro-kun." There was a heavy dose of searing derision in his voice, which alarmed Ginjiro. His face fell slightly and he regarded his sempai with great amount of doubt and disappointment.

Kouhei looked angry, very angry. Madara glanced at Kouhei with a taunting smile and an almost challenging expression. Kouhei's eyes narrowed furiously at his friend and his mouth thinned into a taut line. The message was clear: _I'll deal with you._

Midori glared at him with irritated eyes and pursed lips. Madara knew she wasn't bothered by the bloodshed; he knew this girl very well and she isn't a feared kunoichi for nothing. She had more tolerance for blood and gore than both Kouhei and Ginjiro combined, but she hated unneeded complications, and the sight of the crying man probably repulsed her. Madara turned to her presented a rare congenial smile which, in many ways, was as condescending and taunting as any other explicit show of arrogance.

* * *

//Forward//

* * *

Minato regarded his opponent in polite detachment, but there was confidence shining in his eyes. For a ten year old, Namikaze Minato was very, very mature in mind—he was the number one rookie of the year and the ninja with the most potential. He was sharp, clever and had a will of iron and a work ethic to rival the busy bees. Not to mention, his sensei was the great Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin. His resume was already quite impressive. 

So, naturally, Minato had a good feeling he was going to make chuunin. It helps that his opponent, who was six years his senior, have competed and failed the chuunin exams four times in the past, and did not have the reputation of being the brightest bulb. Katsu, however, had an infamous will to persevere, something Minato found impressive—perseverance always impressed him. Entering the chuunin test five times was no easy feat either.

Katsu seemed confident and almost angry. Minato merely smiled. Even if Katsu was beaten this time, maybe he'll be made chuunin. It was a known fact that you didn't have to win every battle to earn the chuunin vest. Maybe they'll both make it, Minato thought.

The proctor gave the signal to being.

Katsu began by throwing several shurikens towards. Minato ducked, hands reaching for his kunai pouch. As soon as the last of the shurikens passed over his head, he released a barrage of kunai with explosive tags flying behind each one. Katsu swirled in and out of the kunai's paths, dodging each as they exploded. Regaining his composure, the elder boy brought his hands together into a series of seal. Minato frowned and took a precautionary leap backwards.

"**Katon:** **Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Element: Great Fireball Technique)!" **Katsu expelled a great fireball from his mouth which surprisingly reached to where Minato was standing. The speed of the fire was too slow for Minato and he dodged easily. However, he could not help but be amused.

Katsu knew he was wind element. Although that in itself was a mistake—Katsu should not have let him know he knew, for he divulged and destroyed any kind of trap he could have set up for Minato using his wind element against him.

Minato's hands started forming seals quickly and discreetly. He broke into a run around his opponent as the wind swirled at his feet, initiating his jutsu: "**Tatsumaki no jutsu** (Whirlwind Technique)!" An almost visible wind started swirling around Minato's feet, then broke off to become an independent whirlwind, growing with every second that passed and loomed towards Katsu with a force of mini tornado. Any kind of projectile weapons were out of the questions, and Katsu would have to choose his jutsus carefully for wind would easily swallow it up.

Meanwhile, Kushina had jumped to her feet at the moment she realized Minato was attempting a wind technique (although it was quite impressive for a genin). "WHAT?!" she exclaimed to practically no one, "That guy just used a FIRE technique, wind is the worst technique to use right now! What is he, dense?!"

"Watch what he does," a voice said behind her. Kushina turned around. The blond lady next to her regarded her with amusement and confidence, "Weakness can turn to be strength in the hands of an able, skilled warrior."

"Still, wind'll make his fire stronger!" Kushina protested.

"What do you use to blow out a candle?" the woman asked, softly.

"Fire techniques are hardly candle flames," Kushina answered, crossing her arms, "His luck depends on whether or not that other guy has more powerful fire techniques."

"No," the woman said firmly, "If he has one or not, I believe what Minato-kun might possibly be planning can succeed both ways."

"Oh?" Kushina asked. She regarded the woman in curiosity as she sat back down, noting her bright yellow hair and blue eyes. Kushina never met anyone blonde before, and the golden hair of the woman was quite pretty, she decided. She looked down at the battle, at the glinting blonde of figuring of Namikaze Minato and glanced back at the woman. There was some connection there, she was sure of it.

"Hey…are you related to Namikaze Minato by any chance?" she asked. She knew it. Probably like a mother! But why was she way up here where she could not even see the face of her own son without squinting?

"Ah…I am," she answered, though there was very little emotion in the answer. She seemed a little unsure of herself and her eyes darted around the stadium.

"A lot of people are here," she unnecessarily told Kushina, "Even the Uchihas and the Hyuugas came to watch." Kushina noted bitterness in her tone but let it go to see what Katsu would do with the mini-tornado.

Katsu had the same sentiment as Kushina. He smirked, a little surprised by Minato's choice but glad too. Minato, the number one rookie, wasn't so smart. But Katsu mustn't get too confident—it could very well be a trap, although he couldn't fathom what kind of trap it would be.

He leapt out of the tornado's path and made a beeline towards the blonde kid. The tornado was just a distraction and he was not going to be fooled.

"**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu**!"

"**Fuuton: Tengu Kaze no Jutsu** (Wind Element: Sudden Gust Technique)!"

The gale of wind emitted from Minato's mouth and hit the incoming fireballs, and the flames momentarily enlarged before flying backwards with the wind. Katsu leapt to dodge them, and landed near Minato. He swung a kick at Minato's head, and the blonde slipped under the kick and rolled beneath Katsu.

Katsu whipped around with a fist aimed at Minato's face, which was blocked by the latter's crossed arms. The older boy came again with snapping kick from the right side and Minato slipped under it. Cursing, Katsu swung the same foot after the younger boy in vain. Minato fished at out a kunai and slashed at Katsu, who bent backwards and twisted away from Minato. For many more minutes, Katsu and Minato engaged in a very slippery taijustsus match. Minato seemed purely on the defensive, using his small size, speed and suppleness to squeeze, bounce and slip away from Katsu's attack. From time to time, Minato was hit, thrown back by Katsus's surprisingly brute strength, but quickly picked himself up to elude Katsu with his speed and dexterity.

Frustrated and feeling the pull of the stray tornado, Katsu leapt away from Minato and further away from the tornado.

Minato took the chance to throw several small kunais into his whirlwind and circled around it, taking a place directly behind his mini tornado. He brought his hands together and focused on the whirlwind. The tornado began to rotate faster, growing larger and moving towards Katsu with more speed than usual.

Katsu's mind race, his eyes set on incoming mini-disaster. How was he going to escape a tornado? He couldn't think of any jutsus he had in his arsenal to use against a technique like this. What was he going to do?

"Kai!" Minato's young voice cried out. Suddenly, the spinning of the tornado sped up so that the wind blurred and cracked like a whip. Kunais spun out of the whirlwind, flying everywhere in the battlefield. Katsu leapt to evade one but was hit by another, which exploded a second later. For each kunai he dodged, he was hit with one he did not see coming and forced off balance by the exploding force of the tags wrapped around the handle of the weapon. He cursed—how could a 10-year old be this advanced already? He supposed it helped being trained by the great Jiraiya.

Minato was still relentlessly throwing kunais into his tornado, picking up stray kunais and shurikens and throwing them into the raging whirlwind of exploding weapons. Minato relayed any kunai that came at him with a gust of wind, directing it back into the whirlwind.

At last, Minato seemed to tire out and whirlwind disappeared as suddenly it had come. Katsu, relishing the chance, acted immediately. Despite the throbbing pain of his muscles, injured by numerous kunais and small explosions, he made a quick run towards the young boy. He threw nearly invisible wires around Minato's small frame and jerked his two arms behind him.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**!" Fire followed the trail of the wire, and the body of Namikaze Minato burst into flames and dropped to the floor as a log.

"**Fuuton: Kaze no Senbon, Fuatsu no** **Justsu** (Wind Element: Wind Needle, Wind Pressure Technique)!"

Katsu whipped around, eyes wide and panicked as invisible needles stabbed his entire body. It wasn't sharp like he would expect from real senbons, but they were painful, concentrated dull pain stabbing repeatedly into his body. He covered his face, shut his eyes tight and held his breath, waiting for the jutsu to come to an end. When it finally did, his entire body ached and his muscles twisted and throbbed painfully. It was as if the invisible senbons targeted individual groups of muscles in his body and blasted them until they were swollen and damaged. It was not a lethal technique, but it was a damn effective one.

Katsu opened his eyes and removed his hands and saw Minato coming towards him with full speed. He attempted to move, but his muscles gave out beneath him and his fell onto his knees, shaking. Katsu's vision blurred and the only two things remained in his mind: 1) he was going to lose, again, and his shortest defeat yet, and 2) his body hurt like hell. Minato came upon him like a yellow flash—_that damn blonde hair_—he felt a great punch in his stomach, a surprisingly powerful from such a small fist, and his fell unconscious.

Ear-shattering applause erupted from the stadium and Kushina found herself amongst the cheerers, clapping enthusiastically and with a large grin on her face. Minato waved to the crowd, smiling feebly before disappearing into the side of the stadium. The energy of the crowd was still at its peak, excitedly talking about the match even as they headed for the exit. The blonde lade told Kushina to wait for everyone to leave because crowds were too pushy and difficult. Kushina agreed, remembering the horde in which she was transported to Konoha from Whirlpool. Besides, she wanted to gush about the fight.

"Wow, did you see that last technique?!" she asked her blonde companion excitedly, "That was soooo cool!"

"There was some waste of movement," Kushina heard her neighbor say, "But yes, this was very impressive."

"Hey hey, are you his mother?" Kushina asked. The girls face was flush was excitement, only a couple of hues lighter than her hair and her green eyes were drunk with excitement and seemed to dance in her sockets. The blonde woman laughed at the uncontained excitement emitting and energy emitting off the girl in waves.

"Heavens no, I'm not mother," she answered, smiling, "I'm his father's sister—his aunt."

"Your nephew's really good!"

"He _is_ trained by Jiraiya-sama…"

"Really!?" Kushina had jumped out of her seat then, "A sannin is his sensei? Well…" Kushina looked down at the empty field with knitted eyebrows, "No wonder he was so good."

"But Minato-kun is naturally precocious," the aunt said pleasantly, "Very talented."

"Still, a _sannin_! Only a kage is better than a sannin! If I had sannin sensei…"

"Would you like to meet him?" the older woman asked, "Jiraiya-sama and my nephew, would you like to come?"

"Of course!" Kushina exclaimed, "I've always wanted to meet a sannin, that'd be awesome!"

"Good, when the rush is over I'll take you down there;" the blonde said pleasantly, "My name is Namikaze Kayano."

"I'm Uzumaki Kushina."

It was several minutes before the stadium was loose enough for Kayano and Kushina to slip out of the stands and into the inner rooms of the stadium. It was like maze to Kushina, who naturally had a terrible sense of direction, and she followed Kayano closely so she would get stranded in a maze-like structure probably mostly occupied by ninja. Kayano seemed very adept with this navigation of the stadium inner maze and Kushina was impressed. Finally, they arrived at the entrance of a large chamber where Kushina could see a small crowd of people around a slumping figure of Namikaze Minato. Above him, to Kushina's excitement, was the white-haired sannin who glowed with so much pride that it seemed like he was being complimented.

Kushina could see Minato grinning from ear to ear, his teeth flashing in the light—obviously basking in his glory. Kushina regarded him momentarily and suddenly a feeling of jealousy flared in her stomach. She wanted to the one who won the battle and was basking in glory and compliments of everyone. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be in his position right now—powerful, hailed and adored. Ah…he was so advantaged.

The crowd around Minato disappeared and for the first time, his blue eyes fell on them. Kushina thought that Minato would be ecstatic at the sight of a relative, but, to Kushina's horror, was quite the contrary.

At the sight of Kayano, Minato's grin fell from his face and was replaced by angry scowl. He was practically glaring at her as she and Kushina approached them. The confidence with which Kayano had watched Minato's match had all but disappeared. She walked slowly and unsurely, as if she was frightened by Minato's intense stare.

"What are you doing here?" he asked venomously, his eyes set on the blonde woman. Kayano seemed to jump a little and the question. She looked upon the ten year old with light apprehension, her blue eyes flitting to Jiraiya-sama, to Kushina, then back at Minato.

Kushina, on the other hand, was deeply shaken by the aggressive question. The previous heat of jealousy suddenly turned into indignation and she offered a glare that outdid his, although Minato did not seem to notice.

"I cam here to congratulate you, Minato-kun," Kayano said evenly, "On your amazing display of skill, cleverness and strength."

"That _must have_ burned your throat to say," Minato growled, "Naturally, you're the only one here!"

"Now, Minato-kun," Jiraiya said soothingly, putting a hand on Minato's shoulder, "Don't be that way, she complimented you."

"I don't get why you're here," Minato told Kayano bluntly, "And I don't need your compliment. Not for _this_ anyways. This is nothing to you I'm sure."

"Minato-kun," Kayano licked her lips, eyes fluttering with discomfort, "That is all. I'll leave now." She nodded at Kushina and quickly left, the sound of scurrying footsteps still audible as she disappeared back into the maze.

"You're terrible!!" Kushina shouted angrily, pointing an accusing finger at a surprised Minato, "She's your relative and she came down here to say you were great! And that's how you treat her?! That's how you treat an aunt!?"

A bemused Minato stared Kushina, lost for words at the sudden outburst. "Who are you?"

"That likes of you don't deserve to know!" Kushina said pompously, pursing her lips into an angry, pouty line.

"That likes of me?" Minato echoed.

"Someone who takes what he has for granted!" Kushina answered angrily, shaking, "Someone who'd treat his own relative like dirt! She was such a nice lady and you treated her so rudely! No, more than rudely---you were so _nasty_!"

"Nice?!" Minato exclaimed incredulously, "When is she ever nice?!"

"She brought me down here to meet you and the sannin—" Kushina pointed at Jiraiya, "And she was nice enough to tell about what would happen in the battle with you and that other kid!"

"She brought you here so she would feel like she would be coming here for a _real reason_ other than wanting to congratulate me!" Minato shouted furiously, "Because it'd kill her to come just for that so she used you!"

"What's wrong with you?" Kushina asked incredulously, shaking her head, "Isn't she family?!"

"And what would you know about that?!" Minato snapped, furious, "Don't get involved in other people's affair you don't understand!"

"What I know is that families should always look out for each other and be nice to each other," Kushina replied, "And you're just a sad excuse for a human being! You don't deserve any praise at all, jerk!" With that, the very florid Kushina wheeled around and ran back into the maze she would be helplessly stuck in for the next several hours until a guard led her out. But for the moment, she trembled with rage and her legs were powered by a great fire of indignation. All she wanted right was being able to give Namikaze Minato a great big bone crunching punch that would knock those shiny white teeth out.

Minato couldn't care less.

* * *

**END :: CHATTER**

* * *

Wow, this took long. And this is long. I'm never doing 2 fights in one chapter ever again. EVER. Actually, I planned these battles to be much more elaborate, but it would've been twice as long as this and it would not move the plot too much. I'm not too great at this fighting thing. It's 8,000 words but it seems like…crap. Is this too long? I'm thinking about writing my chapter in 6-8000 words per chapter. 

I have fun writing Madara. I really do. He's the perfect Uchiha/villain. I love that story hinted about Shodai/Madara friendship.

**Sakura12**, it's too bad you don't like Madara because I love him. He's my favorite character after Yondaime, but I'm glad you like Minato/Kushina story. You're gonna get a bit confused later, but enjoy while you can I guess. **And MasterMenthe**, thanks, although I doubt anyone would draw it. It'd be cool. And your fire thing reminded me of Calficer from Howl's Moving Castle. **Kistune no Rai**, thanks, Kushina is still a bit young and still can't keep calm for more than 10 minutes straight. And…she hasn't fought yet.

**YamiPaladinofChaos**thanks, I love back stories. : D Yes, **Mirarle**, I do use a lot of Japanese history and mythology twisted to my own devious plans. I like samurais…I kinda want to know why they're so weak in Naruto (although we haven't seen a real samurai). They were very well trained and cultured warriors. **HatakeRose,** I regret set it up that way, but thanks. **xXxKixXx, tullus** thanks for reviewing, and **Kyuubiwindscar t**hanks for pointing that out.

And everyone else who read: thanks.

My tongue burns from saying so much thanks…

Happy late 2008! Make the next four years count, because apparently, the world is going end on December 21, 2012 according to the Mayans and lots of other prophets it seems. I bet 100 bucks its WWIII and global warming combined!

Peace!


	4. Notice and Little Kakashi

**Ch 4- Notice and Little Kakashi**

**NOTICE**

Hi, thanks for reading this story, but as the way the events are proceeding in the manga, I have no heart to write this story anymore. I'm lame yes, but, I just can't write something that doesn't hold true to canon like this.

But, I'd love to continue the Minato and Kushina story, if people want to read it…I will anyway if they don't. : p

I wrote a little Kakashi short, which I might turn into a story…I don't know, this is just so I don't break any rules, heaven forbid.

**Little Kakashi**

Three years old Kakashi was an abomination. He called his parents by their names, knew the language of sarcasm and could read books that troubled those twice his age. He was disgustingly advanced and had trouble making friends for play dates. He was not a normal child by any means, and all the mothers whispered behind their little fingers about the strange Hatake child.

Any normal parents would be worried by their son's early predisposition to be anti-social and strange, but Kakashi's parents weren't normal parents. They were bright, educated and eccentric people who were completely unaffected when their three years old son called them "Sakumo-san" and "Kisu-san". They saw no reason to correct him.

But the precocious Kakashi was still three years old who sometimes _did_ act like the toddler that he is, especially when his father was home (it was easier to be babied by his father than his mother, apparently).

One particular day his father was home and his mother had gone out on some business, Kakashi was excited. He had his "Sakumo-san", the very cool ninja, all to himself. His father had been home a day from his three week mission, and it crossed his mind that he must've been tired, but…it was his Sakumo-san!

He bounced into the bedroom where his father was changing into his home clothes, shouting, "Sakumo-san, play ninja with me!"

Sakumo cringed at his son's voice. He looked at slightly nervous, and regarded at his son with a look that cried, "_Why now_? Why did he decide to be a kid now?"

"Sorry, Kakashi, I'm tired," said he, falling onto the bed, "I'm tired."

"But…" Kakashi's little face fell, "It's still day, you can't sleep!"

"Ehm…" the older Hatake had already began to slip into sleep, "Let's play, later, eh, Kakashi? I need some sleep."

"But, but, I wanna play with Sakumo-san!" Kakashi demanded. He didn't whine, mind you, because Kakashi was a bad whiner. No, it was a demand, a strong statement, a stubborn request.

Sakumo lifted an eye to look at his son and his insanely cute pouty face. His heart tickled; he really wanted to go and cuddle with his son. He hadn't done that since Kakashi had been an infant, but his legs and arms told him to stay where he was. Sakumo groaned and repeated, "I'll just take a nap for a while."

Kakashi pouted and little side of him that was an annoying toddler, the remnants of the terrible two's he never used, exhibited itself in a tantrum.

"Fine!" Kakashi huffed, crossing arms, "Sleep all you want. That's all you do! Sleep forever and ever and never ever wake up!"

Sakumo insides shook with laughter. Did Kakashi just have a tantrum? Other parents are proud by their kid's first word, but Sakumo was more amused by Kakashi's first real tantrum. _That's all you do?_ The kid needs to give him a break…

Sakumo shifted up a little and looked at his son with feign-sadness, "Alright, Kakashi, if you say so, I'll sleep forever and ever and never ever wake up! I'll just die!" He dropped himself into the bed and closed his eyes shut, waiting for Kakashi's reaction.

Disappointingly, Kakashi did not react. Of course, what was he thinking? Kakashi was too smart for this kind of thing…Sakumo wasn't into intellectual games when he was this tired. Kakashi was a mature kid, he'd probably understand how tired he was.

"NO!" Kakashi suddenly shouted, "Don't do that! Don't never wake up!" Sakumo jumped in genuine surprise and looked at his son with an expression between bemusement and fatigue.

Kakashi, with sad baby eyes, looked up at this father and mumbled, almost apologetically, "I don't want you to die."

Sakumo, realization dawning, smiled and patted his son's silver hair. "I won't die, Kakashi, promise…I'm really tired, and I just need a rest."

Kakashi looked reluctant, but nodded anyways. Sakumo lay back down onto his bed and watched as his son slink out of the room, dejected.

Sakumo was barely asleep with a violent shaking woke him up. He started, and looked around wildly to see Kakashi looking down at him with worried eyes.

"What, Kakashi?" he asked sleepily.

"Nothing," Kakashi said with a shrug of his little shoulders, "Just checking to see if you were still alive." Sakumo would have found this cute and funny if he wasn't so tired, but he just nodded and fell back asleep.

Unfortunately for the elder Hatake, Kakashi repeated this set of actions several times, saying, "Just checking". Alas, the jounin could not bear his son's torture and opted for some sleeping medicine, which knocked him out before he could think again.

And finally, he enjoyed a peaceful sleep with no distractions (there probably was, but he probably hadn't noticed). It would be the first time in months he got sleep this good and refreshing. He slept…long.

When he woke up, however, he woke up to the rare sound of crying—of Kakashi crying and a voice trying to hush him. He glanced at the clock; he had been asleep for over five hours. He looked around to see his wife with her back to him carrying a half-sobbing and half-asleep Kakashi in her arms and patting his back.

Now, this was really strange. Kakashi rarely cried, and it crossed his mind that something terrible must have happened. He started at the thought and asked his wife, worried, "What happened to Kakashi?"

His wife turned around at his voice, and gave him a look of utter disapproval. She yelled at him, "You're such an idiot, Hatake Sakumo! You don't tell a kid you would sleep and never wake up, and take strong sleeping pills!"

Sakumo seemed slightly confused, and looked at his wife blankly. For such a genius ninja, he was slow sometimes, but he was still coming out of the sluggishness of his medicine-induced sleep, so you have to excuse him a little. His confusion showed on his face, it seems, because his wife shook her head in exasperation and sighed.

"_Kakashi thought you really died!"_

* * *

Imagine what Kakashi felt when he _really really_ died!

Thanks for reading. Please leave a feedback. 


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